New morgue dead ringer for CSI
GET ready for “CSI: South Africa”. The fictional exploits of forensic criminal investigators in the US drama series will be replicated in real life at a cutting-edge mortuary in Cape Town that promises to be an African first.
Professor Lorna Martin, head of forensic pathology at the 60-year-old Salt River mortuary that the advanced facility will replace, said the new building would bring all services under one roof when it opens in 2020.
The new Cape Town morgue will have a lab specialising in deducing time of death from bugs such as maggots and beetles. “At the moment this isn’t routine, and there are very few people across the country who can do it, so we will also be able to develop skills in this discipline,” said Martin.
The mortuary will also be able to do full-body X-rays in 15 seconds and will use an approach called “virtopsy” (virtual autopsy), minted at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, which simulates a 3-D image of a corpse.
“For this we will have full CT and MRI scans available which can show things like wound tracks and brain lesions,” said Martin.
The R200-million morgue, near Groote Schuur Hospital in Observatory, will also have a molecular laboratory for DNA analysis and an auditorium where medical students can watch autopsies.
Other features include a forensic anthropology laboratory, a toxicology laboratory that would analyse substances found in the body and eventually a facility for facial computer reconstruction.
The old morgue has twice the number of corpses coming through the doors than it is capable of handling. “It was intended to admit 1 250 cases per annum, but now averages more than 3 000,” said Martin. Last year, it reached 3 799.
But only 20 autopsies can be performed a day, the fridges can accommodate 135 bodies at a time, and tissues and organs have to be sent away for various types of analysis.
“This means specimens have to be transported to different places around the country where the external service providers are,” said Martin. Although a body remained at the morgue for three to five days, test results took up to three months to come back.
The 1957 building also bears the scars of apartheid. “It was divided into two parts because bodies were separated along racial lines.”
This meant subsequent repairs and expansions happened in an “ad hoc manner and were very disjointed”.
Robert Daniels, spokesman for the Western Cape department of health’s forensic pathology services, said the new morgue’s “improved access and flow into the laboratory services” would speed up postmortem examinations.
Investigator Piet Byleveld, a former state employee who worked on high-profile cases such as the Leigh Matthews murder, said the morgue would be a big step forward.
“It means all the specialists can liaise with one another on the spot, and that will speed things up. With evidence being analysed in one space, there will be a positive impact on the criminal justice system.”
Unnatural deaths, including murders, suicides and fatal accidents, account for 85% of the morgue’s cases.
Richard Matzopoulos, a specialist in violence and safety at the Medical Research Council, said the massive caseload had been exacerbated by lapses in gun control coupled with bylaws that had made access to alcohol easier.
“In the short term, dealing with these is the best way to bring down the caseload.”